Man to Man
by dracoslilmuggle
Summary: Draco hears his parents arguing and decides to have words with his father.


Disclaimer: The lyrics do not belong to me. THey belong to the group Smile Empty Soul and Gary Allan. The story was written for the song "Man to Man" by Gary Allan. THe first lyrics are from the song "Sillhouettes" by Smile Empty Soul.

I do not own Draco Malfoy or his parents. As much as I'd like to say that I have them in a box in my dungeon, I have niether a box that large or a dungeon, so, alas, I can not have them.

Man to Man:

Draco heard the front door slam and he groaned. The day had been fine. It had been wonderful. Draco and his mother had had a wonderful conversation about life and such. It was three days to Draco's 17th birthday and Narcissa had been asking what he wanted. She was at the present time sitting in the lounge very near him when she also heard the door slam.

She looked up as her husband's voice could be heard from the foyer.

"Narcissa! Get in here! NOW!"

Narcissa looked at her son, who looked back at her. He noted the fear in her eyes and he nodded slightly as if to say, "I'm here for you, Mother."

The two of them stood. Draco allowed his mother to walk ahead of him and followed her out of the lounge to where Lucius was standing with his arms crossed.

"What's the matter, Lucius, darling?"

Lucius looked at his son.

"You. Upstairs. Now." He said in a crisp tone. Draco looked at his mother. Narcissa looked frightened, as if she did not want Draco to leave her alone to face the wrath of her husband. Draco crossed his arms and stared at his father.

"I'm staying here with Mother." Both his parents stared at him. His mother smiled slightly.

"Go upstairs, dear. I'll be fine." She said, patting his shoulder. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll be in my room." He glared at his father, the glare saying "You hurt my mother and I'll kill you." Lucius glared back.

Draco stormed up the stairs to his bedroom. He did not go inside. He knew his father would not blow up at his mother until such time as Draco was in his room, which he'd know by the slamming of Draco's door; so instead of going into the room, he reached into the bedroom, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled it as hard as he could, grinning as it slammed loudly. He could visualize his father wincing.

After slamming the door, he crept to the top of the stairs and planted himself on the top step. He could barely hear them, as his father was talking in hushed tones, so he had to strain to hear them.

As he sat there, words flitted through his head. He'd heard them before, but couldn't remember where.

_I don't wanna live like my mother_

_I don't wanna let fear rule my life_

_I don't wanna live like my father_

_I don't wanna give up before I die…_

He was broken out of his reverie when his father said: "You're a filthy whore. Always sleeping around. You always have. Even before we were married."

"Lucius, that's not true and you know it."

Lucius scoffed.

"You weren't a virgin when we got married."

Narcissa sniffled and Draco growled slightly. That bastard was making her cry.

"Don't bring that up." She said in a strangled voice. Draco could hear the sneer in his father's voice when he responded.

"Don't think I'd remember? Well, guess what, Narcissa? I remember it very well. Like it was yesterday. And you know what else? I'll bet Draco isn't even mine."

He clenched his fists. This was getting old. He was tired of his father making these accusations of the only person who truly cared for me. He stood up and stormed down the stairs.

His mother looked, startled, up at him as he did.

"Draco…"

"Father? May I have a word with you?" He said, dangerously. Lucius glared back just as dangerously.

"What?"

"Those are some severe accusations you just accused my mother of." He said.

"You were listening!" His mother gasped. She then ran a hand through her hair and groaned. "Great." She wiped her eyes.

"Draco? Son? Why don't we go into my office?"

Draco smirked.

"Gladly." He led the way to his father's office, with a look back at his mother who was looking terribly sad and depressed. He threw her a reassuring smile. He was not letting his father hurt his mother any longer.

His father walked into the office after him and shut the door behind him.

"What is your problem, boy?"

"Man to man, father? Who are you kidding? Accusing mother of cheating…" He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, looking at the floor. His hair fell in his eyes, but he ignored it. "As if she has no right to."

Lucius went to his desk and sat in his desk chair. He glared at his son as if he was going to hit him for his insolence.

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell me, Father. Were you there when she needed you? When she was sick? Where were you? I seem to remember that I was the one taking care of her." He waved his hand. "I didn't see you around anywhere." He smirked at his father.

"Look, Draco. I do not have to discuss my whereabouts with a child…"

"In three days, I'm legal, Father. You'll have to look at me as your equal." He said.

"Fine. I do not have to discuss my whereabouts with my own _son_."

Draco shrugged.

"Point taken. But, Mother is your wife. You made certain vows to her and you must keep them."

"I love your mother very much."

Draco clenched his fists at his side.

"How can you say you love her! You accuse her of cheating…And you've done this on more than one occasion, let me tell you." He gestured to the door. "She is out there crying. Cry-ing." He said, emphasizing each syllable of the word "crying". "As in tears running down her face. And you sit here and tell me…That you _love _her?" He scoffed. "Answer me one thing: If you truly love her, why do you make her cry?"

Lucius just sat there. He really had no answer.

"Exactly." Draco spat. "You can't answer that honestly. I was wrong when I decided to have this chat with you. This is not a "man to man" talk." He said, using his fingers as quotation marks around the words "man to man" to make his point. "You are not a man. I don't know what you are…But you are not a man to make a woman like her," He pointed at the door. "Cry and accuse her of something so low as cheating." He was yelling now. "You feel cheated? Too fucking bad. You are never home for her. You are always off doing things to hide that you are working for the Dark Lord or at work trying to make the Weasley's life Hell. And you want to come home and tell my mother that she is cheating on you! She has every fucking right to cheat on you! And another thing: I did not steal her away from you." He shook his head to get his hair out of his eyes. He went to the desk and put his hands on it, making his father back away a bit. Draco smirked. "You think that I'm the one that stole her away?"

His father rolled his eyes.

"Draco? That's completely ridiculous…"

Draco locked eyes with his father.

"Is it, Father? What would you and Mother be doing right now if I had not been born?"

Lucius looked thoughtful.

"Yeah. That's what I thought. If not for me, she'd still be yours."

Lucius put his hands on the desk and held Draco's gaze.

"I have every right to be angry, Draco. You on the other hand have no right. Your mother can take care of herself."

Draco stood and crossed his arms.

"I'm not here because Mother can't care for herself. I'm here because you think your anger is justified."

"And you don't?"

"My anger _is_ justified. My mother cares for me. She's the only one in this family that does, apparently." He sneered down at his father, and then turned his nose up. "I think you're just angry because some bloke told you he caught your wife cheating and that wounded your stupid Malfoy pride." He put his hands back on the desk, looking into his father's grey eyes. "She's a woman, Father. Not a welcome mat for you to come into the house and wipe your soiled feet all over. She loves you. She gave you a son. She married you, which was a mistake in all aspects." He pushed off the desk and paced around the room. "She lives her life in fear of what new blowup you'll have when you come home from work. If she were to commit suicide, I wouldn't blame her!"

"I get the point, Draco!" Lucius growled, massaging his temples. He was getting a headache. "But, I'm not the only one who thinks your mother is cheating. There are about three others who have seen her around with…" Draco looked at his father as he almost spilled who his mother had apparently been sleeping with.

"Yes?" He said, expectantly.

"Others." Lucius said, secretively. "They've seen her with others."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"So, because she is out with "others" she is cheating." H laughed softly. "Yes, Father. That should make you feel cheated." He said, sarcastically.

"She made vows, Draco." Lucius snarled. "Vows that she would not look at another man ever. That she even goes out with…Others...makes me feel cheated."

Draco laughed again.

"You feel cheated? Mother can't even go out with "others" for this reason. She hates going in public. She hates being _seen_. She doesn't like being titled "Lucius' Wife" which is what _your friends_ know her as. _Your_ wife. Not Narcissa. _Your wife. _So, truthfully, I think you should rethink who is being cheated here, Father." He pointed at the door. "She is crying. You're to blame for that." He crossed the room and leaned against the door again.

Lucius sat in silence for a few seconds, lost in thought. Finally, he sighed and looked up at his son.

"Alright. What should I do?"

Draco smiled.

"Apologize to her. Take her out somewhere. Just the two of you."

Lucius nodded.

"Ok." He stood up and walked to the door. Draco moved aside so that his father could walk out the door. He followed his father from the office and together they went to find Narcissa.

They found her outside on the porch swing, still crying and nursing a cup of tea.

"Mother?" Draco sat next to her. "Father and I talked. He wants to talk to you. This time I'm going to go away and let you two talk. Ok?" He started to stand, but Narcissa put a hand on his thigh.

"Stay. Please?"

Draco nodded and sat back down. He looked at his father as his mother put her head on his shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at his father in a way that meant "See what I told you…"

Draco had seen his mother like this only once before. His father hadn't been around for that one.

Lucius put his hands behind his back.

"Narcissa, dear? Would you look at me please?" Narcissa looked up at him with teary blue eyes. "I'm sorry. Our son knocked sense into me." Draco grinned.

"Not literally, unfortunately." He said, cocking his head to the side.

"Anyway, Narcissa. I was hoping maybe you and I could go out to dinner tonight? Give Draco a break?"

Narcissa looked thoughtful then said, "Ok. That would be wonderful."

Lucius smiled and held out his hand to Narcissa. She took it, smiling and the two of them walked off. Draco sat on the swing, watching his parents, finally getting along. He closed his eyes and let the sun soak into his skin. He sighed.

"Gods, I hope I'm never like them…" He said to himself, before getting off the swing and going to the house to relax for the rest of the day.


End file.
